A Conversation With Singer Susie Mclean
After hearing Susie Mclean sing, you will feel better about your day. Putting Susie in one genre is limiting, as she soars through contemporary jazz, to folk, and back to soul. With a new album release, Til The Morning Comes, Susie is having a very successful year. Susie’s music can be heard on Indie Castle Radio, Radio Crystal Blue, Women of Substance Radio and LA-based Indie104. She was selected as the vocalist of the month by an Advisor Board of the Top A&R Executives from Sony, EMI/Capitol Records, and she will be featured on www.singeruniverse.com for a 1 year contract. It was a pleasure speaking with Susie! Here’s our conversation below…
Q: When did you realize you wanted music to be your career? Was this something you would dream of as a child?
Yes, I had dreamed of it as a young girl but as I journeyed through life I realized I had other passions too. The only difference was that even though I did those other things I just could not shake the feeling of pursuing this as my one true love. Once I accepted it and started advancing more towards it I was blown away by how alive I felt when doing it.
Q: You’ve performed in different mediums of entertainment (model, actress), but you still created music. What is it about this form of art that hooks you as a musician?
I believe that I express myself way better in writing than I do verbally, so when I find it hard to express myself or get in touch with something that is bothering me, I write it down and sometimes a melody comes along with it. I am more in touch with my feelings through music. I can touch the deep and most vulnerably part of me in this medium more than any other.
Q: Your latest release Til The Morning Comes is a mixture of your own songs and covers. What inspired you to choose certain cover songs?
I wanted to make sure that I chose songs that I could relate to in some way, that I could be true to and re-live as if it were my very own. Billie Holiday said it best “If you find a tune that’s got something to do with you, you just feel it, and when you sing it, other people feel it, too.”
Q: Was it always this sound you produced? Or did it take time to find your voice in music?
It actually took me a very long time to find my voice. While growing up I had so many people telling me “this is your voice, you should do it like this and like that”. I really had to find myself aside from what other people were saying. I am so glad I followed my heart in being true to me.
Q: We remember at your CD release party, your husband mentioned how your album was a work of Faith. How has faith helped you in regards to your music and drive to make it happen?
My faith has been a huge help. It grounds me and helps me to stay focused on what’s really important.
Q: What do you hope listeners will learn about you through listening to Til The Morning Comes?
Well, I hope that they would learn about perseverance and that anything in life is possible. That no matter what they’ve gone through or where they’ve come from you can achieve your hearts desire. Just because it’s hard is never an excuse to give up.
Q: What inspires your songwriting these days? Are you looking to other music for inspiration, or life experiences?
These days I get inspired through life situations, art and sometimes when someone says a sentence that hits me and I say “that’s a song”.
Q: Now that this album is released what are your plans for promotion and sharing your music? Touring, more live performances?
I am planning to do a tour in 2013. In the meantime I want to sink my teeth into what’s happening here in Toronto. Doing more live shows, jazz festivals and bettering myself in my craft!
Q: What have you learned about yourself through this entire process of creating an album, producing it & releasing it?
I’ve learned that I am a very driven person. Once I set my heart on something I go after it with everything inside of me. I’ve got a lot of fight in me and it’s the passion, hard work and at times obstacles that make this journey worthwhile!
Visit Susie Mclean online! Susiemclean.com
